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Series Code: ASB
Program Code: ASB000106A
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00:04 And comes from the DVD series, "Awesome Science"
00:10 On May 18th, 1980, a catastrophic event 00:14 occurred that has been called God's gift to creationists. 00:18 On a beautiful Sunday morning at 8:32 AM, 00:22 Mount St. Helens erupted and caused the largest landslide 00:25 in modern human history. 00:27 Then, for nine hours, it released the explosive power 00:31 of one atomic bomb every second. 00:33 Not only was the world shocked by the eruption's 00:36 explosive power, but it also challenged the way 00:39 that secular scientists think how catastrophes 00:42 have changed this earth. 00:44 Never did creation scientists have 00:47 such a wonderful, observable laboratory 00:49 to help explain so many other geologic features 00:52 around the world by catastrophic processes. 00:55 It doesn't take millions of years 00:57 to form canyons, stratified layers, and petrified forests, 01:01 only days, weeks, and months. 01:04 All of this and more, next, on "Awesome Science." 01:12 "Awesome Science" takes you on a field trip 01:15 to some of the most amazing geologic and historical sites 01:19 around the world where we use "The Bible" as our history 01:22 guidebook to interpret what we see, 01:24 that "The Bible" can be trusted, and empirical science 01:28 falls in line with the Biblical account of creation, 01:30 the fall, and the Flood. 01:33 Science-- it's awesome. 01:36 [music playing] 01:41 Some creationists have developed the idea of two great lakes 01:45 behind the Kaibab plateau. 01:47 This dam formed by the plateau was breached and eroded 01:51 the canyon in a matter of days as the lakes drained rapidly. 01:56 These lakes would have been left from the receding flood waters 01:59 as valleys and plateaus quickly rose at the end of the Flood, 02:03 trapping the water in these huge lakes. 02:07 Other creation scientists have suggested 02:09 the Grand Canyon, and many other canyons around the world, 02:13 were formed when the flood waters were 02:15 receding across the land cutting huge gaps in the landscape. 02:21 Whatever the mechanism, we know they 02:23 were the result of catastrophe and not slow processes. 02:27 Using Mount St. Helens as a laboratory 02:30 for studying catastrophic processes 02:32 helps us realize the incredible impact 02:34 the Flood had on forming the features 02:36 we see on this earth today. 02:44 Just to the south of Mount St. Helens 02:46 is a fascinating feature called the Trail of Two Forests. 02:51 Around 2,000 years ago when the lava flow came through here, 02:54 there was a tree standing right in this exact place. 02:57 As the lava flowed around it, it hardened 03:00 enough against the cool wood to make a form right there. 03:03 And then the wood vaporized through the heat, 03:05 and whatever was left just rotted away, leaving a hole. 03:10 Since that time, a new forest has 03:13 grown on top of the lava flow. 03:15 Hence, the Trail of Two Forests. 03:18 An easy to use walkway has been built for us 03:20 to see this great volcanic feature. 03:24 Not all the trees were upright. 03:26 Some of them fell down and created these lateral tunnels 03:29 all across the area. 03:30 Who wants to see me go down one of these right now? 03:32 Show of hands, anyone? 03:33 [applause] 03:35 All right, your vote wins. 03:36 Here I go. 03:39 Are you certain my insurance covers this? 03:42 Oh well. 03:47 Wow. 03:53 [laughing] 03:56 That was cool. 03:58 Science, it's awesome. 04:03 When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18th, 1980, 04:07 the largest landslide in recorded history 04:09 slid down the mountain and into the valley below. 04:12 One fourth of the landslide barreled into Spirit Lake 04:15 causing an 860 foot tidal wave. 04:19 That wave washed up onto the surrounding hills 04:22 and into the old growth forest. 04:24 When the water came washing back into the lake, 04:27 it pulled down about one million trees with it. 04:31 The landslide also displaced the lake so 04:34 that the present level is 200 feet above the level it 04:37 was before the eruption. 04:39 Mountain cabins and lakeside camps 04:41 were buried in a matter of seconds. 04:44 As the eruption stopped and scientists 04:46 were able to go into the blast zone, 04:48 an amazing sight unfolded. 04:50 Some first thought that Spirit Lake was gone 04:53 because they couldn't see it. 04:55 But it was just covered in logs. 04:58 As the lake emerged, scientists were 05:00 excited to know this would be their first chance 05:03 to study how logs would behave after this catastrophe. 05:06 What they found would forever change the way 05:09 they thought about the development 05:11 of petrified forests. 05:13 Since 1980, the number of logs on the lake 05:16 has decreased dramatically. 05:18 After the eruption, scientists studied 05:20 how the logs became water logged because the root 05:23 balls at the bottom of the logs were denser, 05:26 they began to sink first, forcing the logs 05:28 to stand upright halfway in the water. 05:32 As the log soaked up more and more water, 05:34 they began to sink to the bottom of the lake. 05:37 What also became evident was certain species 05:40 remained floating while others disappeared beneath the waters. 05:45 After careful study, it was discovered 05:47 that some tree species, such as Noble Fir and Silver Fir 05:51 contained the less resin. 05:53 Resin slows the absorption of water. 05:56 So those logs with more resin would stay afloat longer. 06:01 The other curious thing about the ones 06:03 that were still floating was that their bark 06:05 had been stripped off. 06:07 Where did the bark go? 06:08 The only logical explanation is that it 06:10 went to the bottom of the lake. 06:13 These processes were new to scientists. 06:15 So they began to study them in this living laboratory. 06:19 What excited them the most was how what they found 06:23 could help them interpret other geologic sites 06:25 around the world. 06:27 With many of the logs, and all of the bark, 06:29 gone from the top of the lake. 06:31 The real mystery lay below the waters. 06:34 After getting the right permits, they took a small boat down 06:38 to Spirit Lake with a sonar towfish. 06:41 They went back and forth among the giant logs 06:44 and mapped the bottom of the lake. 06:46 What they found was amazing. 06:49 The sonar map showed as many as 10,000 small and large logs 06:54 standing straight up on the bottom at various levels 06:57 in the sediments. 06:59 Then, Dr. Austin did what any good scientist would 07:02 do, further investigation. 07:05 He and his team put on scuba gear 07:07 and dove about 100 feet down. 07:10 As the sonar map had showed, they 07:12 found logs standing upright at different levels. 07:15 Some were planted firmly. 07:17 Others they could move back and forth. 07:19 They also had root masses at the bottom, 07:22 but broken off, as if they were pulled out 07:24 of the ground in a Catastrophe 07:27 Given the right conditions, such as another eruption from Mount 07:30 St. Helens, these logs could end up completely 07:33 buried under ash and sediments. 07:36 If the area was eroded away, it would give the appearance 07:39 that multiple forests had grown there, one on top of the other, 07:43 over many years. 07:45 Dr. Austin began to look at other geologic features 07:49 to see if they could be explained 07:50 using Spirit Lake as a model. 07:53 He turned his attention to Yellowstone's Petrified Forest 07:56 at Specimen Ridge. 07:58 Secular scientists developed the idea 08:00 that this petrified forest was at least 27 different forests 08:04 which grew there over millions of years. 08:06 A forest would grow, then get destroyed by an eruption. 08:09 Another forest would grow on top of that, and so on. 08:13 The time frame to develop all these forests 08:16 would have been much greater than the biblical time scale 08:18 of 4,350 years since the Flood. 08:22 So Dr. Austin chose to look at it from a catastrophic model, 08:26 keeping the global flood in mind. 08:28 Something a secular scientist would never consider. 08:31 Dr. Austin and his team hypothesized 08:34 that if this forest was developed the same processes 08:37 as that at Spirit Lake, there should 08:39 be very little evidence for multiple forests 08:41 over long ages. 08:43 They got permission to dig up some 08:45 of the root balls of the trees. 08:47 Just as they suspected, the trees 08:49 didn't have spreading roots because they didn't grow there. 08:53 Just like at Spirit Lake, these logs 08:55 were ripped out in a catastrophe and deposited here. 08:59 They found several other key factors, 09:01 which determined the trees didn't grow there. 09:04 The tree rings all matched in size. 09:07 There was no evidence of burrowing animals. 09:09 And the ash in the soil mostly came from the same eruptions. 09:14 The petrified forests in Yellowstone 09:16 were formed by catastrophe in very short order. 09:19 The park sign which told of multiple forests 09:22 over millions of years was taken down. 09:25 The uniformitarian explanation of the evidence 09:29 just doesn't hold up. 09:31 At the beginning of the global flood, 09:33 as described in "The Bible," the rains came down 09:36 and the fountains of the great deep were open. 09:38 It is believed these fountains were subterranean water 09:41 and volcanic fissures. 09:44 During the Flood, the water pushed across the land 09:47 ripping up forests across the landscape. 09:50 Some of these logs were buried instantly, 09:53 but many floated to the top of the waters creating 09:56 giant floating log mats, like those seen at Spirit Lake. 10:01 In various places around the world, 10:03 these logs would have begun to sink 10:05 to the bottom of the waters and buried quickly 10:08 in the sediments and ash. 10:10 With the immense pressure from above, the heat from below, 10:14 and the right chemical mixture in the ash, 10:16 the logs would have petrified quickly. 10:19 Some Secular scientists have told us 10:21 that it takes long ages to petrify wood. 10:23 But in reality, it doesn't take that long at all. 10:27 Experiments have been performed in the lab which 10:30 found that logs can petrify in less than a year. 10:33 There's a whole industry which petrifies wood 10:36 quickly and sells it as flooring in homes. 10:40 Given the right conditions, during the Flood, 10:42 producing a massive petrified forest would have been Easy 10:47 Events at Spirit Lake have given us a miniature laboratory 10:50 of scientific study for the way logs 10:53 get buried in a catastrophe and give us 10:56 a model for how things could have happened on a much 10:58 larger scale during the Flood. 11:01 Real science is what we can study and repeat, then use 11:05 results to explain all the other features around the world, 11:08 like at Yellowstone. 11:09 Real science is good confirmation 11:11 that "The Bible" can be trusted as Earth's true history book. 11:16 Science, it's awesome. 11:22 The catastrophic events at Mount St. Helens 11:25 have not only helped explain petrified forests, but also 11:28 how we got our large coal beds. 11:31 The coal deposits around the world are amazing. 11:35 They can be hundreds of feet thick 11:36 and provide fuel for heating and electricity generation. 11:40 The layers are usually very glassy and smooth. 11:44 Secular scientists have developed the idea 11:46 that these massive coal deposits were formed slowly 11:50 over millions of years in freshwater swamps. 11:53 Over long periods, the logs fell from the forests 11:56 and were buried in antiseptic waters of the swamp. 12:00 Over millions of years, a thick spongy layer 12:03 of broken plant material developed, called peat. 12:07 This layer of peat eventually got 12:09 buried by other sediments, such as clay, mud, and sand. 12:13 The peat eventually turned into coal. 12:16 Sounds like a good story. 12:18 But there are some challenges with the secular idea. 12:21 This is especially true when you study the quality of swamp peat 12:25 and peat beds. 12:27 Beds of peat can be found around the world. 12:30 In Nova Scotia, there's a big layer 12:32 of peat near the coastline. 12:35 This layer of peat was developed over a few years. 12:38 Recently the layer was exposed through erosion. 12:42 This layer of peat, and other swamp deposits, 12:45 shows something very interesting. 12:47 What we find is that these peats are usually full of roots 12:51 and the layers are not very smooth. 12:54 If the present is the key to the past, 12:56 as secular scientists believe, then there is a major problem. 13:00 When we go to the great coal beds of the world, 13:03 they are very smooth and glassy and absent of roots. 13:07 Such evidence simply remains without a good explanation 13:11 in the secular view. 13:12 But in a biblical view, there is no problem. 13:16 These layers were made mainly from tree bark 13:18 in the catastrophe, not swamp materials. 13:22 Because of the size of the beds, and the materials 13:24 that they were made from, it would 13:26 have required massive amounts of organic life to create. 13:29 And they must have been deposited and buried quickly. 13:32 The events at Mount St. Helens and the record 13:35 of the biblical flood could give us 13:37 the answer to how these massive coal beds were formed. 13:41 When the trees were uprooted during the eruption at Mount 13:43 St. Helens, then deposited as logs on Spirit Lake, 13:47 it didn't take long for those logs to rub together 13:50 and scratch most of the bark from them. 13:54 When Dr. Austin and his team dove into the lake, 13:57 they found about three feet of bark peat 14:00 on the bottom of the lake from the logs above. 14:03 If there were ongoing eruptions at Mount St. Helens, 14:06 the peak could be catastrophically buried 14:09 in ash and other sediments. 14:10 That would make this layer of peat a candidate 14:13 to be turned to coal. 14:15 As described earlier, the Flood would 14:17 have ripped up much of the vegetation 14:19 as the waters prevailed on the land. 14:21 Because of wave action and winds, 14:24 this vegetation is thought to have clumped together 14:26 on the surface, creating giant floating log mats. 14:30 Just like at Spirit Lake, the logs would have rubbed together 14:33 and the bark would have fallen off, 14:35 then sunk to the bottom of the sea to form a layer of peat. 14:39 The logs at Spirit Lake only produced three feet of peat. 14:43 With the immense amount of coal we find today, 14:46 there would have been a lot more vegetation 14:48 floating on the water, which is what we 14:50 would expect during the Flood. 14:53 After much of the peat was deposited, 14:55 the subsequent flood waters would 14:56 have laid sediments on top of it, 14:58 applying pressure to the peat and making 15:00 coal in very short order. 15:03 The type of coal we find in the giant coal 15:05 beds is very smooth and glassy, and, by natural means, 15:09 can really only be formed by rapidly laying down 15:12 tree bark under water. 15:14 If the giant coal beds were laid down from swamp action 15:17 over millions of years, the coal should 15:20 have been full of roots from the trees and plants growing 15:22 above the covered swamp. 15:24 But the roots just aren't there. 15:26 Does coal take long ages to form? 15:29 No, it doesn't. 15:30 Labs today are making coal in just a few weeks. 15:33 So it doesn't take long ages, like secular scientists 15:36 propose. 15:37 All you need is the right catastrophic conditions. 15:40 Using Mount St. Helens as our miniature laboratory, 15:44 "The Bible" as our history book and ultimate authority, 15:47 and the Flood as a catastrophic process, 15:50 the giant coal beds can be easily explained 15:53 using this floating log mat model. 15:55 And God's word is the key to unlocking the mystery. 15:59 This program is brought to you by 16:03 An organization committed to producing high quality 16:06 science-focused television content 16:09 all from a Biblical worldview. 16:11 Awesome Science is our kids series hosted by Noah Justice 16:15 In every episode, Noah visits the national parks 16:18 and historical sites to help you understand 16:20 earth's history using a Biblical worldview. 16:24 Find us online to watch all of our shows, 16:27 Noah's bloopers, behind the scenes videos, and special interviews. 16:32 You can also visit and like our Facebook page. 16:35 Where we post updates, announcements, and post extra videos. 16:39 Our YouTube channel also hosts many of videos and bonus segments. 16:43 Thanks for visiting. We hope you enjoy our great content. 16:53 After the May 18th, 1980 eruption, 16:56 the blast zone north of the mountain was a wasteland. 16:59 In one minute, the virgin forests and pristine lakes 17:02 were transformed into a great desolate landscape. 17:06 The landslide deposit covered the valley floor up 17:09 to 600 feet. 17:11 Then it was buried in thick layers of ash, pumice, and mud 17:14 flow. 17:15 It was a new landscape and scientists 17:17 were very interested to see how long it 17:19 would take for life to return. 17:22 In the surrounding mountains, trees were knocked down 17:24 and all small vegetation was obliterated. 17:28 Any wildlife in the area was vaporized 17:30 in the steam explosion. 17:32 It is estimated that 1,500 elk were killed, 17:36 11 million fish, one million birds, 17:39 5,000 deer, and 200 black bears. 17:44 Much of Spirit Lake was considered 17:46 a toxic brew of volcanic gases seeping up from the lake bed. 17:50 Because of all the organic material now in the lake, 17:53 it became a hydrogen bubble stinking of methane. 17:58 Almost all of the oxygen in the water was depleted. 18:03 The temperature of the water had risen 20 degrees Celsius. 18:07 Legionella, which causes Legionnaires' disease, 18:10 was also found in the lake. 18:13 Very little could live there except for bacteria 18:16 and a little bit of plankton. 18:18 It was quite a mess. 18:20 At first glance, every living thing had been destroyed. 18:23 Many scientists thought it would take hundreds of years for life 18:27 to return. 18:28 But because of God's amazing design and nature, 18:31 life returned much sooner than they expected. 18:34 The lumber companies decided to replant their sections of land 18:38 with new trees. 18:40 But the Forest Service decided to let their land grow back 18:44 on its own. 18:45 It became a living laboratory on biological recovery 18:49 after a natural disaster. 18:51 Because it was spring when the mountain had erupted, 18:54 there was still snow on the ground. 18:56 Many animals were still in hibernation 18:58 and baby trees were hiding under the snow. 19:02 As spring turned into summer. 19:03 The pocket gophers came to life breaking up the soil 19:06 and spreading seeds into the blast zone. 19:10 Elk would eat plants outside the blast zone, 19:13 come in, and leave their scat on the ground. 19:16 The seeds in the scat would start growing as plants. 19:19 In the same way, birds also carried seeds in. 19:23 But much of the soil was heavy in nitrogen because of the ash. 19:27 Most plants don't grow well in nitrogen rich soils, 19:30 but some plants do. 19:32 Lupine began growing like crazy across the landscape. 19:36 Lupine is able to eat up the nitrogen 19:38 and develop the soil into a more friendly place for larger 19:41 plants. 19:43 Eventually alders and conifers begin to grow. 19:46 Since 1980, a young forest has grown lip of the blast zone. 19:51 In Spirit Lake, the bacteria went 19:53 to work eating up all those toxic chemicals. 19:56 The algae put oxygen back in the water. 19:58 Within five years, the lake was back 20:01 to its original pristine condition. 20:04 Fish were found in the lake again. 20:06 Some could have stayed in side streams, 20:08 but a majority of the comeback was 20:09 due to fisherman reintroducing trout into the lake. 20:13 Within a few years after the introduction, 20:15 it was known that some fish were reaching lengths of 25 inches 20:19 much due to the good nutrients provided 20:21 by the ash and sediments from the eruption. 20:25 The wildlife has returned, too. 20:28 There are now between 2,000 and 3,000 elk 20:31 living in the blast zone, almost double 20:34 of what there was before. 20:36 Birds and small animals have also 20:38 come back in great numbers. 20:41 The spider population has also flourished. 20:44 With a large open area, they have 20:45 been able to float in air currents unhindered. 20:49 It's estimate that two million spiders land 20:52 on one square mile of land in the blast zone every day. 20:56 Why is this fast recovery so important to those of us 21:00 who believe that "The Bible" is God's history book? 21:03 First of all, God has designed our earth 21:05 to recover from catastrophe much quicker 21:07 than secular scientists used to believe. 21:09 But we know this fact because God is good 21:12 and a good designer of our planet. 21:15 He may use His finger and make the mountain smoke, 21:18 but He also desires that there be a quick restoration of what 21:21 has been destroyed. 21:23 We see the goodness of God, even in this sin-cursed and broken 21:27 world. 21:29 The recovery at Mount St. Helens gives us 21:31 a glimpse into the quick recovery of our planet 21:33 after the global Flood. 21:35 The global Flood was designed to destroy most everything. 21:39 Some sea life still survived, but much of it died as well. 21:43 Because it was God's judgment for man's rebellion, 21:46 only those aboard the ark, Noah and his family, 21:48 and all the land dwelling air breathing animals were saved. 21:53 Just like Mount St. Helens, the destruction 21:56 of the landscapes during the Flood was complete and quick. 22:00 "The Bible" tells us that by day 150, 22:02 the Flood had covered the highest elevation on the earth 22:05 and then began to recede. 22:08 Just over a year after boarding the ark, Noah and the animals 22:12 walked on to dry land. 22:14 It was important that there be enough vegetation 22:16 and food for the animals to survive 22:18 on the Earth's new surface. 22:20 We know that Noah sent out a dove. 22:22 And that dove came back with an olive leaf, 22:25 showing that vegetation was already 22:27 recovering on the planet. 22:29 We can see at Mount St. Helens a miniature laboratory 22:32 for quick recovery from a catastrophe. 22:35 And we can apply what we've learned here 22:37 to see that a quick recovery after the Flood is possible. 22:41 The recovery of an ecosystem is very complicated. 22:45 Here at Mount St. Helens, we see God's design and intellect 22:48 in how He created soils, plants, and animals to reclaim 22:52 the landscape quickly. 22:54 If given simply go chance processes without God's design 22:57 in, nature the recovery would have been impossible. 23:01 There was definite order to this biological recovery 23:04 at Mount St. Helens. 23:05 And it should draw us to praise God for His incredible design. 23:13 Mount St. Helens teaches us many things 23:15 about catastrophic processes, recovery, and even 23:18 a bit about God's character. 23:21 We know that 57 people died in the eruption. 23:24 Yet every one of them was warned about the coming danger. 23:28 In this same way, the word of God 23:30 says that there is another coming world wide destruction. 23:34 This time by fire. 23:36 All of us have been warned to get out of harm's way 23:38 by repenting of our sins and coming 23:41 into salvation through God's Son, Jesus Christ. 23:45 We have also learned that geological processes, thought 23:48 by secular scientists to take millions of years, 23:51 can have been much quicker given the right conditions. 23:54 The global Flood, as recorded in "The Bible," 23:56 provides many of the right conditions 23:58 for geologic processes around the world 24:01 to produce these features in very short periods of time. 24:05 It doesn't take millions of years 24:07 to form canyons, stratified layers, and petrified forests, 24:11 only days, weeks, and months. 24:14 Secular scientists have their own ideas 24:16 about how the earth was formed over billions of years. 24:20 But they leave out God's supernatural touch 24:22 and judgement. 24:23 Many of the evidences they use to support evolutionary ideas, 24:27 are better interpreted when looking at them 24:29 through the truth of scripture. 24:31 Mount St. Helens was truly God's gift 24:34 to creationists by showing us catastrophic processes that 24:37 occurred during and after the Flood 4,300 years ago. 24:42 Science, it's awesome. 24:45 Awesome Science is a video series produced by 24:49 Awesome Science Media produces many other great shows, 25:01 Ark Animals 25:06 We broadcast our episodes throughout the world 25:09 on television networks, TV stations, and online platforms. 25:14 We're making a difference by challenging the deceptive 25:17 evolutionary worldview, which directly opposes the Word of God 25:22 Our mission is to provide youth with a firm foundation 25:25 based on solid scientific evidence that supports their 25:29 Biblical worldview. We also want to encourage youth 25:32 to pursue the Truth, and maybe even make a career from their 25:36 interest in science and the Bible. 25:38 Thank you for watcing our shows. 25:41 Please keep up with us as we continue to build new content 25:44 which builds up your faith in the Word of God. |
Revised 2018-01-30